IRANIAN NATIONAL PLEADS GUILTY IN MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT

TO CONSPIRING TO PROCURE SUPPLIES FOR

IRANIAN PETROCHEMICAL COMPANIES

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that SAEED TALEBI, an Iranian national, pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to illegally export from the United States to Iran parts and goods designed for use in industrial operations. TALEBI pled guilty before United States District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “It is critical that our trade sanctions against Iran be strictly enforced, and we will continue to work with the Department of Commerce and other law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute those who seek to violate our export laws.”

According to an earlier Indictment, the Information to which Talebi pled guilty, and statements made during his plea allocution today:

On numerous occasions throughout 2010 and 2011, TALEBI worked with others to ship industrial parts and goods from United States-based firms to Dubai, acting through a company identified in the Information only as “Company-1.” These items were then to be sent on from Dubai to various petrochemical companies located in Iran. Federal criminal law generally prohibits direct or indirect shipments of goods from the U.S. to Iran in the absence of an export license issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. TALEBI did not have such a license. In the course of his scheme, TALEBI also caused money to be wired to the U.S., including over $300,000 that was sent to a bank account in Manhattan.

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TALEBI, 39, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), relevant Executive Orders, and United States Treasury regulations. TALEBI faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain on December 19, 2012 at 3:30 p.m.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the New York Field Office of the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. He also thanked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, for their assistance.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane T. Stansbury is in charge of the prosecution.